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State's evidence   /steɪts ˈɛvədəns/   Listen
noun
Evidence  n.  
1.
That which makes evident or manifest; that which furnishes, or tends to furnish, proof; any mode of proof; the ground of belief or judgement; as, the evidence of our senses; evidence of the truth or falsehood of a statement. "Faith is... the evidence of things not seen." "O glorious trial of exceeding love Illustrious evidence, example high."
2.
One who bears witness. (R.) "Infamous and perjured evidences."
3.
(Law) That which is legally submitted to competent tribunal, as a means of ascertaining the truth of any alleged matter of fact under investigation before it; means of making proof; the latter, strictly speaking, not being synonymous with evidence, but rather the effect of it.
Circumstantial evidence, Conclusive evidence, etc. See under Circumstantial, Conclusive, etc.
Crown's evidence, King's evidence, or Queen's evidence, evidence for the crown, in English courts; equivalent to state's evidence in American courts. (Eng.)
State's evidence, evidence for the government or the people. (U. S.)
To turn King's evidence To turn Queen's evidence, or To turn State's evidence, to confess a crime and give evidence against one's accomplices.
Synonyms: Testimony; proof. See Testimony.


State  n.  
1.
The circumstances or condition of a being or thing at any given time. "State is a term nearly synonymous with "mode," but of a meaning more extensive, and is not exclusively limited to the mutable and contingent." "Declare the past and present state of things." "Keep the state of the question in your eye."
2.
Rank; condition; quality; as, the state of honor. "Thy honor, state, and seat is due to me."
3.
Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance. "She instructed him how he should keep state, and yet with a modest sense of his misfortunes." "Can this imperious lord forget to reign, Quit all his state, descend, and serve again?"
4.
Appearance of grandeur or dignity; pomp. "Where least of state there most of love is shown."
5.
A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself. (Obs.) "His high throne,... under state Of richest texture spread." "When he went to court, he used to kick away the state, and sit down by his prince cheek by jowl."
6.
Estate; possession. (Obs.) "Your state, my lord, again is yours."
7.
A person of high rank. (Obs.)
8.
Any body of men united by profession, or constituting a community of a particular character; as, the civil and ecclesiastical states, or the lords spiritual and temporal and the commons, in Great Britain. Cf. Estate, n., 6.
9.
The principal persons in a government. "The bold design Pleased highly those infernal states."
10.
The bodies that constitute the legislature of a country; as, the States-general of Holland.
11.
A form of government which is not monarchial, as a republic. (Obs.) "Well monarchies may own religion's name, But states are atheists in their very fame."
12.
A political body, or body politic; the whole body of people who are united under one government, whatever may be the form of the government; a nation. "Municipal law is a rule of conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state." "The Puritans in the reign of Mary, driven from their homes, sought an asylum in Geneva, where they found a state without a king, and a church without a bishop."
13.
In the United States, one of the commonwealths, or bodies politic, the people of which make up the body of the nation, and which, under the national constitution, stand in certain specified relations with the national government, and are invested, as commonwealths, with full power in their several spheres over all matters not expressly inhibited. Note: The term State, in its technical sense, is used in distinction from the federal system, i. e., the government of the United States.
14.
Highest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme. (Obs.) Note: When state is joined with another word, or used adjectively, it denotes public, or what belongs to the community or body politic, or to the government; also, what belongs to the States severally in the American Union; as, state affairs; state policy; State laws of Iowa.
Nascent state. (Chem.) See under Nascent.
Secretary of state. See Secretary, n., 3.
State bargea royal barge, or a barge belonging to a government.
State bed, an elaborately carved or decorated bed.
State carriage, a highly decorated carriage for officials going in state, or taking part in public processions.
State paper, an official paper relating to the interests or government of a state.
State prison, a public prison or penitentiary; called also State's prison.
State prisoner, one in confinement, or under arrest, for a political offense.
State rights, or States' rights, the rights of the several independent States, as distinguished from the rights of the Federal government. It has been a question as to what rights have been vested in the general government. (U.S.)
State's evidence. See Probator, 2, and under Evidence.
State sword, a sword used on state occasions, being borne before a sovereign by an attendant of high rank.
State trial, a trial of a person for a political offense.
States of the Church. See under Ecclesiastical.
Synonyms: State, Situation, Condition. State is the generic term, and denotes in general the mode in which a thing stands or exists. The situation of a thing is its state in reference to external objects and influences; its condition is its internal state, or what it is in itself considered. Our situation is good or bad as outward things bear favorably or unfavorably upon us; our condition is good or bad according to the state we are actually in as respects our persons, families, property, and other things which comprise our sources of enjoyment. "I do not, brother, Infer as if I thought my sister's state Secure without all doubt or controversy." "We hoped to enjoy with ease what, in our situation, might be called the luxuries of life." "And, O, what man's condition can be worse Than his whom plenty starves and blessings curse?"





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"State's evidence" Quotes from Famous Books



... fifteen thousand dollars,[24] was all recovered, and the murderers taken to St. Louis, where some were hung and some imprisoned, the doctor escaping the death penalty by turning state's evidence. His sentence was incarceration in the penitentiary, from which he was pardoned after remaining there two years. Hobbs met the doctor some years after in San Francisco. He was then leading an honest ...
— The Old Santa Fe Trail - The Story of a Great Highway • Henry Inman
... and the recaptured, half recalcitrant Pete; the latter turned state's evidence. Kennedy told how he had wandered down into the flats after "the few dhrinks" that made him think scornful of Sioux; of his encounter with Eagle Wing, his rescue by Field and a girl who spoke Sioux like a native. He thought it was little Fawn Eyes when he heard her speak, ...
— A Daughter of the Sioux - A Tale of the Indian frontier • Charles King
... the foreman, Donleavy, had been driven by a process of sweating to turn State's evidence against his master. His testimony made things look black for Harley, but when Hobart took the stand, a palpably unwilling witness, and supported his evidence, the Ridgway adherents were openly jubilant. ...
— Ridgway of Montana - (Story of To-Day, in Which the Hero Is Also the Villain) • William MacLeod Raine
... at all," said Norvin, with one hand firmly gripping his coat collar, "but I understand the value of discretion at this moment, and I don't intend to take any chances on losing our little friend Gino before he has turned State's evidence." ...
— The Net • Rex Beach
... July, 1875, the trial was begun, at Beaver City, in Southern Utah. Much delay ensued, however, by the absence of witnesses, and by the fact that Lee had promised to make a full confession, and turn state's evidence. His statement was not accepted by the court, and the case was brought to trial on the 23d of July, with the expected result, that the jury, eight of whom ...
— The Great Salt Lake Trail • Colonel Henry Inman
... vaunts his connection and sympathy with the rescue. On the third day come the arrests. He finds the Government has learned that he was present. Six months in jail and a thousand dollars fine, is no trifle to a mechanic's apprentice. He becomes alarmed, and offers himself as State's evidence, and becomes a swift, a terrified, and a blinded witness for the Government. He says he was standing in the entry by the recess that leads to the east door and the water-closet. While there, he saw a gentleman come along ...
— Report of the Proceedings at the Examination of Charles G. Davis, Esq., on the Charge of Aiding and Abetting in the Rescue of a Fugitive Slave • Various
... Celebrate and Surajah were dragged into the circle of light, just as poor Ma Fewkes, with her shoulder-blades drawn almost together came forward and tried to tear from her poor old husband's arm the hand of an old neighbor of mine whose name I won't mention even at this late day. I will not turn state's evidence notwithstanding the Statute of Limitations has run, as N.V. Creede advises me, against any one but Dick McGill—and the reason for my exposing him is merely tit for tat. Ma Fewkes could not unclasp the hands; but she produced an ...
— Vandemark's Folly • Herbert Quick
... the moral tissues tough in integrity; then it will hold a hook of obligations when once set in a sure place. There is nothing more vital. Shape all your experiments to preserve the integrity. Do not so reward it that it becomes mercenary. Turning State's evidence is a dangerous experiment in morals. Prevent deceit ...
— Searchlights on Health - The Science of Eugenics • B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols
... went on Scottie, having Jeff's attention. "Andy is workin' to keep Dozier alive. Why? Dozier's the law, isn't he? Then Andy wants to make up with the law. He wants to sneak out. He wants to turn state's evidence!" ...
— Way of the Lawless • Max Brand
... Jim Cummings, I can see that in every word they speak," said Chip, "they would rather go to Jefferson City than to turn State's evidence." ...
— Jim Cummings • Frank Pinkerton


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